Search for a Purpose Among Pokemon
by BellaFeylin
Summary: OC Character Journey. It will get dark, scifi but hopeful. Bad things will happen, tone will shift. (Hybrid world of Game and Anime.) Read and Review.
1. First Meet

Introduction

For Astrid there have not been many events that are very memorable. Few still that she remembers but all of them are going to be topped tomorrow. She and her mother have traveled from home to spend the night with a family friend to be in Pallet Town for that day. After laying down in the bed of the son of the friend (he is out on his own adventure) her mother's Arcanine walks in.

"Hey big man, how are you?" She reaches out to pet him. There is a light breeze coming in from the open window carrying the scent of green gardens and grasses that the town is covered in.

The pokemon sits and lowers his head to get the, closer, ear scratched. An audible snort expresses his satisfaction. His long fluffy mane is pouring onto the bed.

"Yeah there aren't any fuzzy pokemon tomorrow otherwise that would be my choice." She sighs looking out the window.

He nuzzles her hand before licking it.

"I figure if I go third I can still get one but do not have to choose. Also if I make up my mind and do not get that one, what do I say to it and to the people and pokemon I told I wanted something else? Did that make sense? I want a good one not really much more than that."

Big black eyes look up at her.

"I know I didn't want any of the local pokemon back home. If you had a pup egg I would have jumped at that but you never did get along with the officer's pokemon did you?"

He snorts lightly before wagging his tail again.

"That is what I thought. The officer lady said you have to like eachother for an egg to appear. So how does that work?" She asks while setting her alarm on her phone for the morning.

He looks at her and starts panting.

She pets him. "Hmm, I wonder if it is the same as baby people?" She stops and gets up and off on the other side of the bed before crossing the room and pulling a berry from her bag. "Here you go."

Large as it is the arcanine's mouth very gently takes the treat.

"What I want most is the friendship… Like you and mom have, or what Uncle Fred and his Electabuzz have." He wags his tail.

She gets up, changes into her Pj's, listens to her mother and friend laugh before drifting off to sleep. The Arcanine for the last time, for a while anyway, lays at her feet till she goes to sleep and he returns to her mother.

Astrid is awoken by the sound of her phone alarm mimicking the cry of a Pidgey. She runs down stairs but the Arcanine stops her from running out the door. Sitting in front of the door himself she cant move him. _Some pokemon make great barriers_. She thinks to herself. Her mother Lariena is sitting at the table drinking coffee with with her friend Delia. The sharp visual contrast between the two women is made more striking because of their similarities. Both are tall auburn haired women with a thin build. But that is where it ends. Lariena has cold dark grey eyes with a suit even while on this short vacation from work. Delia is warm with brown eyes and in a casual t-shirt and cut offs.

Lariena smiles lighting her expression a touch. "Sit down and talk with us over breakfast."

"But Mom, I have to go get my pokemon." Astrid pivots "Thank you Mrs. Delia."

Delia smiles "There is some toast and jelly and ham on a plate for you."

"What kind of jelly?" Astrid asks sitting down. She is hungry but keeps looking at the clock.

Lariena looks up at her "Strawberry, now remember your manners"

"Thank you Mrs. Delia, May I please have it?" Astrid starts eating while watching the two women talk. The hand slowly ticks closer and closer but not at all fast enough.

Lariena rolls her eyes at Astrid calling the woman Mrs Delia instead of Mrs Ketchum but smiles at her friend and daughter. "Today is the day, in three hours you are invited to go down to pick up your first pokemon." Smiles and looks across the table. "So how about you? Enjoying the Bed and Breakfast life?"

Delia nods. "Yes, very much. It is a lot of hard works but very rewarding."

"I bet it is. I am happy for you."

"How about you? What is the fast paced world Spin? How much media is out by the Power Plant?"

"More than you would think but less than it feels like."

"Any new projects?"

"Not really."

"Still dodging work talk?"

"Yes." She smiles and sips her coffee. "I told you I can't, even to you, confirm or deny anything"

Astrid tunes them out and listens to the sounds of the bird pokemon outside and the arcanine panting under the table while eating. Once the plate is clean she runs up stairs and changes out of her pj's and grabs her back pack almost falling over but saving herself before running out the door. She rushes to the gate and it is locked. The metal is still cool and damp from the dew last night. 2 and a half hours to wait till it opens. She waits pacing in front gate for ten minutes before taking the pack off and continuing. Professor Oak steps out in his robe and walks around with a watering can watering the plants. He is whistling to himself.

"Hi, are you here for a pokemon today?" He says to her when he gets around to the gate.

She nods. "Yes." She walks right up to the bars and looks up at him.

He nods. "Stay here and I will be back in a moment. Aren't you a bit early?" He looks at his watch. "Very early"

"Yes, But I thought if I got here I could early I could get first pick." _This way I don't have to choose at all. Just don't ask and grab one. _

He nods. "I'll be back once I'm dressed." He heads inside chuckling. "Eager as usual. All the children are always so very enthusiastic to get their pokemon." He talks to himself and sighs before closing his door behind him.

She watches a pidgey come from a tree in his yard and land on the gate. It starts to puff and preen. She just slowly walks over to it and offers her hand. The bird waddles over to her on the gate before rubbing against her hand. She scratches it on the back of the head and pulls a peanut butter cracker pack out of her back pocket and opens it with her teeth offering the two crumbled crackers to the bird.

The bird eats a few before flying back to the house. Professor Oak comes out about a half hour later, looking respectable. He walks over to the gate opening it. "Hi I'm sorry it is really early your Lariena's daughter right? I can't remember your name, what was it?"

"Yes sir, I am Astrid." Leans back to put her pack on and almost falls over before pulling it up in a squat motion. "Got it." She mumbles to herself before following him in. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Do you know which one you want?"

"Nope, but I do not plan on picking." She says proud. "I realized it would lead to disappointment somehow and the only way to do it would be to not chose but just grab one." She smiling and confidant.

"It sounds like you are not ready."

She frowns. "Maybe, but I have given it a lot of thought." Astrids looks him in the eyes. "All three options are really good. But then I realized what if I woke up late and missed them so what would I do then? I made a point of being early but what if someone beat me here and got first pick anyway. I would have gotten my hopes up and felt disappointed and it does not seem fair to the pokemon to go into this disappointed. Also I realized it does not matter as long as the pokemon is healthy." She pauses then looks down then back up again worried. "Please do not take offense to that. I did not mean to imply they weren't healthy. Your pokemon are the healthiest not that the other professors give away sick ones or weak ones…or…"

"Stop." He laughs and puts his hand up. "I can see you have given it full consideration. Good." He leads her to the lab. "Well here they are." He points to the chest height column he keeps them on. There are three balls and a hole in the center of the table. "Take your pick."

"I really don't know how."

"Do you want me to tell you which is which?"

"No thank you." She looks at them. Gets at eye level and looks at each ball. She has three perfectly valid choices. She reaches for the ball closest to the entrance of the room.

"Let's take it out side?" He smiles. "But first here take this PokeDex. I am always looking for new pokemon and new facts about old ones." The PokeDex is a pale icey green in color. "Type in your name I have already registered your trainer id number in it."

"My what?"

"Trainer Id number. All recognized trainers are given numbers that match the data linked to their pokemon and pokeballs." He waves his hand. "It is confusing. The papers were filled by your mother. Sign your name in the pokedex, it holds your trainer card. Type your name in it. Then take these pokeballs." He hands her 10 more empty red pokeballs.

She nods following the Professor outside in to the yard pocketing the balls and grabbing something tiny from her bag while she walks. She stands in the yard looking around at the sky, the sun is bright and grass is green. The pokeball with her pokemon in it is lighter than she thought it would be. The red ball is smooth and warm. She is confused as to why it is warm and not lab room temperature.

She opens pokeball holding her breath through the flash of red light.

Infront of her on the grass is a small blue and green pokemon, a bulbasaur and a few scattered leaves have appeared around it. It lifts it's head and looks up at the girl and the man. Astrid pulls a small apple from behind her back and offers it to the pokemon.

"Hi, im Astrid. Do you like apples?" The pokemon nods and walks forward as she gets on one knee. Bulbasaur eats the apple from her hand. "So um, bulbasaur do you want to come with me?" She holds the pokeball up to show it in her hand.

The bulbasaur looks up at her cautiously and sits down on the grass.

"Okay that can wait. Here. " She sets the ball in her pack and uses her free hand to stratch the pokemon's ear once the pokemon relaxes into it and can be heard makings content sounds. "So pretty boy do you want to come with me?"

The pokemon shakes it's head.

"You don't why?"

It nods.

"You do want to go with me."

It nods again.

Professor Oak laughs. "He is a she."

Astrid pouts then nods. "Oh, how can you tell?"

"With that type it is hard to tell visually but I do dna testing so I know." He laughs.

Astrid nods. "okay, Miss Saur would you like to come with me?"

The pokemon nods finishing the apple. She walks over to Astrid's leg and nuzzles it.


	2. Leaving Home

She returns to her mother's friend's house with the bulbasaur walking next to her. "So what should I call you?" Walks in into the house but picks up the pokemon before going in. "Mom! Come look." Astrid makes a point to hold her from underneath.

"Balbasaur doesn't seem bad. Miss Saur is too fussy for day to day. Would you be happy with that?" Astrid asks looking at the Bulbasaur.

She nods.

Lariena and Delia walk out to greet Astrid.

Astrid beams "Look isn't she the prettiest?" scratching her behind the ear.

Lariena nods. "Good… Aren't you early? Did you steal that pokemon?" Expression shifting from proud to cross in half a second.

"No Mom! He let me in." Astrid holds the bulbasaur very close to her chest, eyes widening as the notion of the saur possibly being taken from her overwhelms her thoughts.

Lariena nods and smiles. "I'll have to thank him. Did you get the one you wanted?"

"Yes" She doesn't hesitate.

The bulbasaur starts to growl and wiggle free before jumping to the ground.

Astrid "What is wrong?"

The bulbasaur stomps on the ground with each foot.

"you don't like being held tilted like that?"

She nods to the girl.

Lariena looks at her. "Give me a hug. I am so proud of you. Do you have everything?" She smiles brightly and opens her arms.

Astrid hugs her mother and steps back. "Well I'll be going now. I love you mom. Thank you Mrs. Delia." She motions to her bulbasaur to follow and runs down the road. Tripping over a rock and landing under her pack.

Her mother winces watching her only child run off with a skinned knee and no clue where she is going. Lariena can be heard going into the house "I am not seeing my daughter for far too long. I do not care if it is before 10 am, Bloody Mary's?"

Delia laughs and the two women walk inside nodding.

Route One has sun, sun shine that touches the skin and causes everything to smell warm. Astrid looks down at her pokemon walking next to her and wonders if it is yummy sun but doesn't ask. She looks at her cut knee and walks over to the stream by the route. The water is clear and cool. She brushes pebbles and gravel from the skin. The blood rinses away.

"Bulbasaur" she asks. "Come over here. Please." She pats the grass next to her.

The pokemon joins her on its belly in the warm green grass. She looks at the girl's leg and licks it as Astrid pulls it out of the water.

"Thanks." She says to the licking and pulls out the Pokedex pointing it at her pokemon.

"Bulbasaur: The Seed Pokemon. It carries a seed on its back right from birth. Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger. It can go for days without eating a single morsel. In the bulb on its back, it stores energy."

She smiles and pets the pokemon. "I think it is fine if we take our time getting away, it isn't like we are meeting anyone." She wipes off the water and opens a first aid kit, calmly applying ointment and then a bandage and taping it secure. "So want to battle? We can find some wild pokemon to get stronger with?" She scratches the pokemon's ears.

The bulbasaur looks up at her lazily basking in the sun shine. She blinks then nods slowly, then faster. She hops to her feet and growls. There is a small purple rat across the stream drinking.

Astrid looks at the two. "Okay, but there is water in the way." She says to bulbasaur standing up herself.

The bulbasaur looks at her then the rat across the water then back to her with a slight pout. The rat runs away into the grass as the girls walk away from the water.

Astrid points "look there is another one over there."

Bulbasaur snarls at the rat. The rat scratches her. Bulbasaur tackles rolling in the grass. The rat escapes when Astrid takes out her Pokedex again and aims it at the purple rat.

"Rattata: The mouse pokemon. It eats everything. Wherever food is available, it will settle down and produce offspring continuously. Rattata is cautious in the extreme. Even while it is asleep, it constantly listens by moving its ears around. It is not picky about where it lives - it will make its nest anywhere. It gnaws on hard objects to wear down its fangs, which grow constantly during its lifetime."

The rattata charges head long into the bulbasaur who dodges. She jumps onto the opponent.

Astrid calls out "Vine whip." Her pokemon very quicky wraps the rat up in the vines that spontainiously sprout from the bulb's base and slams the rat away. The rattata scrambles to its feet and runs off. Astrid drops to her knees and hugs bulbasaur for winning. "Good Going. You kicked butt"

She stands up very proudly and says "Saur" with a stomp and a nod.

The girls tackle many, many Rattata's wasting an afternoon with the rodents and other local critters.


End file.
